Silly food beliefs
I distinctly remember spending the night at my grandma’s house as a kid, and having her ask me if I wanted butter on my food – my toast, my (plain) pasta, my pancakes in the morning, etc.
Because of this, I grew up thinking butter was healthy for you. I figured, with my kid logic, that you added it to your food because it contained vitamins that you needed. I mean, why else would Grandma be asking me if I wanted some?
I also thought that fresh broccoli could only be served with melted cheese. Because every time I had broccoli at her house, it had cheese on it! Who ever knew these two items could be served apart!
Of course, now I realize those meals were just treats! And my grandma loved to treat us! And just so I don’t tarnish her name, I will let you know that she always made us eat a salad before dinner (loaded with ranch dressing – my choice, ha!), and that the food she cooks now is actually much healthier… uh, sometimes too healthy.
I think of this story every time I hear someone say something like “I don’t know what foods are healthy and should be in my diet” or “I can’t eat carbs!” Because my immediate reaction is surprise that people don’t have a general idea of what is healthy to eat, and that they fall for food myths like “carbs are evil” and “you can never have treats.”
But then I remember – I once believed butter was a health food! So, we only really know what we are told or witness first hand as we grow up. Some people probably end up with really distorted views about food, depending on how they are raised.
And even as we do become adults and try to do our own research and live a healthy life, who really knows what source we can trust? It seems like different “findings” come out each week, contradicting one another. Get 2-3 servings of fruit a day versus Limit your fruit intake! Too much sugar is bad for you!
Even when you eat a somewhat healthy diet, there are people telling you to eat raw, eat organic, eat less of this, eat more of that!
I think we all just need to do the best we can, with the tools/resources we have. Sure, you want to nourish your body now, so you get the most longevity and comfort out of it throughout your lifespan, but food shouldn’t be stressful. Too much stress can be just as unhealthy as a bad diet!
Hmm, this post took a strange turn! I actually wasn’t planning on those last few paragraphs. That is what happens when you forget your filter. I just meant to ask – did you have any silly food beliefs growing up? Or even as an adult?
Themocracy
I don’t think I had any odd food beliefs, but now that I’m older and weight conscious, I definitely count calories a lot more. (I guess I’m aware that pasta and bread have more calories than one would like now…)
For this reason, I really don’t like when companies tout their products as panaceas or the best thing since sliced bread. (Ahem POM ahem ahem ahem barf). If these products were really that amazing, the people in that part of the world would live to be 9348023482390 years old or never get cancer, etc. So really, I just think that food marketing perpetuates silly food beliefs.
…Um, whoops. Rant over.
P.S. I’m glad you liked your card!
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I think I’ve gotten over my food myths after having been on 2,348,392,993 “life style changes.” It kills me to hear people say all of the things that they cant eat or have to eat based on what life style they are following. Carbs are probably the biggest culprit that I can think of. “Ohhhhhhhh I cant have grapes, grapes have too much sugar” I can understand saying “nope I cant have ice cream in the house, it’s too tempting” because we all have trigger foods. But completely wiping out fruit because it has too much sugar (I dont know anyone who got fat from grapes by the way) or saying that they can live the rest of their lives with never ever ever again touching a slice of bread or some pasta just doesnt make sense. Moderation and balance make sense.
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I was a sucker for a long time for the “low fat” and “all natural” labels. Before I started working with my trainer and overhauling my lifestyle, I ate a lot of things I *thought* were good for me but were just high in refined carbos. So many things in the “low fat” category are just sugar bombs.
I’m not anti carb, btw, but my biggest diet sin was eating refined carbs all day long which made me tired and never filled me up. But I didn’t put two and two together until I upped the whole grain and started adding more protein.
My parents raised me on whole grain bread and skim milk and oatmeal, so perhaps I should have been listening to them all along. 😉
There are foods I’ve never had because my mom refused to cook them so I just assume they must be nasty. I also grew up thinking that a meal wasn’t complete without a main dish and two side dishes. Even now when I make dinner I feel like I haven’t done a good enough job if I don’t make a side dish. Even if the main dish has practically all the food groups in it already!
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growing up, i assumed salt and pepper cancelled each other out. like, oops, put too much salt on your dish? just add more pepper until it’s balanced out! 🙂
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I believe Junior Burritos from Mexican restaurants in strip malls are very good for you. Especially when shared with friends.
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I love grandmas for that very reason!!
hmmm….I went through a phase in high school and college (when I was really worried about my weight) when I didn’t eat peanut butter. I just thought of it as being very “bad” for you. Now? Geesh – I couldn’t go one day without it!!
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Wait… butters not healthy for you??? LOL For some reason I firmly believe that onions are really spicy, but people tell me that they aren’t
I used to eat buttered popcorn. Now my husband and I eat plain, air-popped popcorn. It’s delicious! And much healthier!
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My mom used to tell us that the crust of bread had all the nutrients so that’s why we had to eat it. Her mom told her that eating the crust would make you pretty. (Least my mom was a bit more progressive.)
And my mom’s parents… we’d have dinner and immediately after they’d push dessert on us. That was just another part of the meal to them really. Eat dinner, have an ice cream cone or a slice of cake. It was a struggle convincing them that I’d like some, but LATER.
And who does know really? My butter, dessert, & fried food-loving grandparents all lived into their 80s and 1 early 90s. Course food was less processed for most of their lives…
Also, last I read, butter’s better than margarine or fake-processed oils for you. And it tastes better, so yea!
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When I was growing up my parents fed me horrible foods. They had no idea what was and wasn’t good for people. My mom would let us eat ice cream for dinner because it had calcium in it, cookies for breakfast if it had oats in it (because then it is healthy) etc. I didn’t even ever taste broccoli (which I love) until I met my husband in college. I can’t remember ever having vegetables offered to me as a kid, and we rarely had any fruit around. I remember going to my friends houses and going crazy eating all the fruit, which is funny because when my friends came over they all said I had the coolest parents ever when we ate cookies and ice cream for dinner. I am fine with my kids having ice cream for dinner every once in a great while as long as the rest of their days eating has been healthy…but not EVERY day or even very many days a year of ice cream for dinner!
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When I was little, I would sneak pats of butter to eat….how gross is that?? That’s funny that you thought it was a health food. I think we all get too caught up in the latest hype instead of just focusing on basic, unprocessed food. I eat a lot of junk but a lot of great, healthy food too. It’s all about the balance in my opinion!
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ahah my grandma is the same way!! she always just wants just to be happy.
It makes me sad too when my friends say they avoid pasta because it has carbs :\ i hate when people fear food because it should be embraced and bring us all together at the dinner table!
Ok, I dont remember any silly food beliefs. But I do know my grandma told me if I cried I’d grow a mustache … and I believed her for many years. As for adults that dont seem to understand what is good for them, my hubby thinks all salads are healthy … even with Caesar dressing. And his dad (my FIL) went through a “healthy eating” period where he and MIL would eat spinach sauteed in TONS of butter. They were eating healthy because there was spinach on the plate. (Sighs) I eat a lot of bad stuff, but I’m not an idiot. I know its bad, I just eat it anyway 🙂
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This is a GREAT post! Food shouldn’t be stressful, it should be nourishing and delicious and good for us (most of the time hehe).
I definitely stress way too much about food at times, and it’s good to sit down and reverse my thinking to be healthier.
I grew up thinking that everything should be low-fat or fat-free in order to be healthy. Fat-free butter, brownies, salad dressing, mayonaise, cheese, etc.
I’m glad I realize now that often times I am better off eating the “real” version of foods rather than the fat free or low fat versions because they contain so much crap and fake stuff!
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